In the area of higher speed printing, prior apparatus and machines have included provisions for printing on a plurality of record media at the several stations across a business machine. In one construction, there may be provided a single print head or like mechanism which remains at one place or station and the several record media are directed past the printing station to accomplish printing on the desired media. In another construction, there may be provided record or printing media at several stations across the machine with a plurality of movable print heads, each associated with its station for printing the desired information on the record media. In the modern business machine, a normal or common type of construction may include a receipt station, a journal or audit station, and a slip or form station wherein, respectively, a receipt is printed and provided to the customer, a journal or an audit is printed and retained or stored in the machine, and a form or slip, which may be in the manner of a pass book or a document, is inserted and certain information is printed thereon and then returned to the customer (in the case of a pass book) or deposited in a receptacle for further processing (in the case of a check or like document). Representative of prior art showing such an arrangement of printing stations is Cederberg et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,681 which discloses the several stations adjacent one another for performing the several functions.
With the advent of more compact construction in business machines, it is desirable that the several functions or modes of operation of such machines be compatible for precise and high speed operation. Additionally, the several functions are desired to be built in a structure and manner which will simplify the design in the matter of using common parts in a modular concept.